Have Any Brawl Tournaments Allowed Solo-Squirtle??

[drewilliam]

Have any of you participated in or seen a Brawl tournament that allowed or required the Pokemon Trainer to only use one Pokemon for the duration of a game (either just Squirtle, Ivysaur or Charizard)? Basically meaning every time the Pokemon dies, you have to wait for Pokemon Trainer to switch back to that Pokemon and then start the stock nuetral.

There's no way to do this in game besides waiting for the Pokemon player to switch each stock, and it wasn't feasible for online play, and in general it can just be a pain for anyone playing as or against Pokemon Trainer, so it's easy to see why most tournaments didn't or don't follow the "Lone-Pokemon" rule.

However, despite this I still can't help but be surprised that basically no major tournaments or locals that I know of adopt this Pokemon Trainer clause. I think most people would prefer the Pokemon to be separate characters (like in PM or Charizard in Sm4sh) and there's technically nothing stopping the Pokemon from being treated as such in a tournament setting. And I don't think anyone thinks they'd be too good (as in equal to or better than ICs or MetaKnight) as Solo-Pokemon.

In the Smash Doc they talk about ChuDat playing in local Melee low-teir tournaments before Brawl came out where he'd enter as Solo-Popo. He would kill Nana at the beginning of each stock while his opponent waited and then start the stock in nuetral positions. But then it seems like no one did this same type of thing for Pokemon Trainer in Brawl tournaments, I'm guessing it's mainly because of online play.

Also when Smash 3DS came out Clash Tournaments had a similar clause to what I'm talking about: each match both players would connect their 3DS to the TO's 3DS for streaming and lag-preventing purposes. And then each game (instead of each stock), the players would have to wait for the TO to kill himself and then start the game in nuetral positions. Come to think of it that's basically how crew battles in every smash game, besides PM, have been conducted as well. The more I think about it the weirder it seems tournaments don't allow or require Solo-Pokemon.

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Sorry if I'm ignorant to the fact this used to happen all the time! I never played Brawl competitively, but always had an interest in it and still do harbor some interest today. I tried searching around a bit for a clue, but didn't come across anything.

I would appreciate any of you Brawl vetrans filling me in on your personal experiences. If I ever host a Brawl tournament, I'll try to gauge people's opinions about this Pokemon Trainer clause and see if I can make it a reality.

 

[GreenFlame]

Seemingly, the stamina mechanic makes this unfeasible because it's designed with the intent of preventing just what you're suggesting.

 

[drewilliam]

Oh, wow. Thanks. I remember thinking I had to switch Pokemon when they looked tired playing Brawl years ago, but never understood why or how it worked. Since then I had totally forgotten about the Pokemons' fatigue altogether.

That turned out to be a very simple answer... Brawl Dev simply made a mechanic specifically to prevent the continual use of one Pokemon.

Do you personally think it would ever be worth playing Solo-Squirtle (in the hypothetical situation where it's allowed) basically forcing yourself to be eternally at 0.7x attack over just playing Pokemon Trainer the way it was intended to be? Like in an otherwise typical 3-stock tournament which do you think is a better character? I'm starting to think Solo-Squirtle is only meant for one-stock brawl, if even that.

 

[GreenFlame]

I think it's just too much of a handicap. 0.7x attack power is a significant reduction in KO power and damage-racking abilities.

Unfortunately, another issue for the Pokémon Trainer is type effectiveness.

I love playing Ivysaur, but it disappoints me that the three characters were all handicapped by being tied into one with such ridiculous gimmicks. I mostly play Project M and Smash 4, and it's awesome how the three are in Project M (i.e. without said gimmicks and with new specials), so I'd love to see Squirtle and Ivysaur as DLC in Smash 4 because they are such unique fighters.

 

[drewilliam]

Wow that's also crazy. I have to agree with everything you said. I love the trio in PM. Squirtle feels really similar in Brawl as to PM so I thought I'd give him a shot. But maybe not, haha. I really enjoyed Brawl for years, but I think it will end up being the only Smash game I don't play.

It would actually be extremely awesome to have them in Smash 4 too, since Smash 4 feels like Brawl's redemption